Aeroplane pendulum-balance.



H. MORSE. AEROPLANE PENDULUM BALANCE. APPLIGATIONTILED MAF.. 2o, 1913.

Patmiaed June @1914. A

Herma( Monsr., or new Yoan, N.-`Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led llarch 2p, v1913. Serial No` 755,773. y l Y f AEROrLANEPENDULUM-BAL'ANIJL.

Patented June 9, 19,14.

.To all whom t may concern.'

Be. it known that I, HENRY MORSE, a citizenjof the United' States,residing at New York city inthe borough of Manhattan and State of llewYork, have invented vcertain new and useful Improvements in AeroplanePendulum-Balances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in aeroplanes and particularly tomeans forA balancin aeroplanes and` other like aerial vehicles uringtheirviight through the air, `s0 that they will be rendered safe for thetransport of persons, the dangers of overturning, which have resulted infrequent deaths of aviators and numerous injuries to persons, will beavoided; the usefulness'of aerial vehicles extended; and the control ofmovement fof the vehicles perfected, so that they will ,berendered moreserviceable to mankind. I y

Thel inventionfis designed to yprovide a simple .automatically actingbalancing means, which can be readily. applied to any type of aerialvehicle, and which willv be under the? instant control of the aviator,so that it may 4be'broug'ht into operativel position and moved out vofoperative lposition at will.. i

The' invention is `practically embodied in a specific type 'of balancingmeans, which eincludes a simple pendulumcomprisin a weight and aflexibleA support there or, which is connected with vsuitable windingmeans carried b. the aerial vehicle or ma. chine, whereby t e operatoror aviator may instantly raise or lower the pendulum balance to meet thevarying conditions of the wind, or to brin the device from loweredoperative, balanclng position, to elevated inoperative position.

"the invention comprises certain combinations, constructions2 andarrangements of parts/,clearly described in the accompanyingspecification and clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich -Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aeroplane provided with theimproved balancing device. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of thebalancing means and its mounting,

with certain parts` shown= in section. Fig. 3 is a .detail view of thewinding means and the control therefor. 'FigL/l is a detail view,

partly in section, of a modified form of the weight used for thependulum.

With the above and other objects in view Referring to the accompanyingdrawings illustrating the practical embodiment of the invention denotesthe main `supporting y frame of an aeroplane. and thermain-supportingplane thereof. The supporting frame and the supporting plane may bemounted on any suitable form of running gear. On the frame 5 a suitableengine or motor 8 is arranged, which is provided with the necessary fuelsupply connections, and

the shaft 9of which -carries'a propelling screw 10, arranged in approvedfashion.`

The .usual rudder plane 13 is provided. 4The platform 14 of the vehicleor machine is pro-l vided with a. guide opening 15, located in avertical line of the center of gravity ofthe machine or vehicle, andthrough the guide opening 15 a flexible support 16, is adapted tooperate. This flexible support 16 is in.I the form of a link chain, arope or cable, or may,`

be a flexible power shaft, and on its lower end a weight 17 is secured.,which is adapted to hold a central position under the vehicle, relativeto the center of gravity thereof, under normal conditions. The upperend' of the flexible 'cable is *secured tot rotating winding4 member1,8,fwhich may ,bein the form ofk ajsimple crankedV axle,v or shaft, or(

in the forin of a winding drum, and which isjournaled by the bearings 19and 20 on.

' the supporting frame 5. The shaft or winding member 18 is providedwith a pawl and ratchet mechanism 21, which may be operated through themedium of a foot release rod 22, so that the ball or weight 17 may bepermitted to drop by gravity to its extreme 'lowered position, or to anyelevation above this, whereby the-weight ,orr ball pendulum 17 willoperate, to hold the machine or vehicle true to its safe flying ortraveling position. The winding shaft or member 18 may be operated bymeans of a handle 23, by hand or by foot, so as to gradually lower thependulum weight or ball 17, or it vmay be operated by suitable flexibleconnections controlled by the engine or motor.

In order to prevent undue Wear upon the platform or upon the frame ofthe machine a reinforcing plate 24 is secured 4to the plat-v form and isprovided with a guide sleeve 2.5

of Asuitable hard wearingmetal, which ts snugly in the opening 15. Thereinforcing plate 24 may be concaved, as at 26, to form a pocket intowhich the ball pendulum suitably secured to t ,weight and may bereleased from erably provided on said plate for holding said ball in itsuppermost position independently of the action of the shaft or windingmember 18. The under or lower face of the plate 24 may be provided with.a cushion 2870;(= rubber or of other suitable material, so that theweighted ball will notl crush the frame of the machine when it .abutsthereagainst. The latch 27 is pivoted to the platform 14 and is providedWith an arm 27W, which provides a seat for the pendulum weight. Thelatch is held in pendulum supportingfposition by the dog 27, which vispivotedat one end to the small block u, and which is held against thelatch 27 by means of the small Spring one endof which is e block u. Acord or operating element 27 is connectd with the dog 27 and is trainedover pulleys or guides f, arranged on the frame, for guiding the cord orelement 27". The upper free end of the cord or element 27 carries asmall weight 27a, which serves as a handle.- A spring 27x is locatedbetween the rubber cushion cup 28 and the latch 27 and serves as abuffer for the latch. The foot release rod 22 is pivoted to the treadle22, which is' supported by the block 22c and said treadle 1s springpressed by the spring 221. The latch 27 serves to positively supporttheJ` holdi`11g^ posltion by pulling upon the cord or element 27, andthen the treadle may be operated and the pawl and ratchetmechanismactuing and safety `ated' to cause the weight to drop bygravity.

It will be seen that the improved balancdevice canfbe readily' at-ytached'to any type of aerial vehicle or machine, whether a monoplane ormulti-plane, and is' simple in construction, easy to opratchet mechanismfor' -erate' and control, and will. effectively oppose all tendency ofthe machine to turn over to summersault or avoids the dangers whichusually confront aviators, and which have produced set-backs in the ,artof practical aviation.

If desired the weight 17 may be made in sections, so that its total massmay be readily increased to meet increased loads placed on the machine,or an auxiliary ball weight and a pendulum weight, a iiexible cordsupport I for the weight, means'on `the vehicle for op# erating the cordand holding it a ainst .60

movement to lhold the weight elevate and a-latch for the weightsupplementing the supporting action of the cord.

2. In combination, an aerial vehicle, a flexible support on thecontrolling the HeXiy ble support, a treadle operated member foractuating the pawl and ratchet mechanism to release theflexible'support, a'pendulum support, a rubber 70 weight on the flexible/cushioncup for the pendulum wei ht 16,# cated on the vehicle to serveas a buer for p. the weight, and-1a latch' on the vehicleform-ving-asupportffor-the weight.

In testimony whereof I aix'myfsignature in presence of ltwo witnesses.HENRY Witnesses: 1

' C. E. FETZER,

SAMLW. GOCKRELL;

turn turtle ,"and thus serious 15 vehicle, a pawl and

